Sunday, March 29, 2015

2014 IRA FILM AWARD WINNERSThe IRAs are a mysterious but august film society that has voted on the best films of the year since 1976. Officially known as the New York Independent Film Critics Awards but lovingly nicknamed the IRAs, it is more international and indie focused than the Oscars, more mercurial than the LA Film Critics, more loyal to their favorites than the Golden Globes, the IRAs are proud to announce their picks for the best movies released in 2014. It's their 40th anniversary!

The IRAs began when passionate film students and friends complained about the parade of annual awards shows, declaring, "We could do better!" What followed was an all-night, knock-down, drag-out fight to establish the very first winners of the IRAs. (One of the members is named Ira, but how his name became the name of the award is a story lost in the mist of time.) The IRAs has been profiled in The New Yorker so it is officially a New York institution, though no one has ever heard of it. Over the years, its rotating cast of voting members have included Oscar-winning writers, major directors, top studio execs, best-selling and critically acclaimed authors of books on movies, critics, budding playwrights, plain old film buffs and so on. They have no more claim to pronounce the best films of the year than anyone else but they've been doing it for decades so, hey, it's tradition! And the IRA goes to....BEST PICTURE
1. Nightcrawler -- 29 pts. (out of a possible 45 pts.)
2. Foxcatcher -- 21 pts.
3. Stranger By The Lake -- 17 pts.
4. (tie) Boyhood 16 pts. Ida 16 pts.

NOTE: When there's a tie, the number of films tied fill up a corresponding number of slots. Here, two films tied for #4, so that fills up both #4 and #5. If three films were tied for #2, then there would be just one more winner to fill up the #5 slot, and so on. This year nine ballots were submitted with a top score for each film of 5 pts, so the maximum any one film could achieve was 45 pts.

NOTE: Clearly, the IRA voters are steeped in auteurism, or at least auteurism is so firmly entrenched it influences thinking whether one admits it or not. The five Best Picture winners are exactly matched by the five Best Director nominees and winner, right down to healthy leads for Nightcrawler and Foxcatcher, with a razor thin margin between the bottom three films. In this case, however, it is Ida ahead by one point while Boyhood and Stranger By The Lake are tied for fourth.

BEST ACTOR
Jake Gyllenhall for Nightcrawler by acclamation

1. Jake Gyllenhaal for Nightcrawler -- 35 pts.
2. Tom Hardy for The Drop and Locke -- 19 pts.
3. Oscar Isaac for A Most Violent Year and The Two Faces of January -- 16 pts.
4. Joaquin Phoenix for The Immigrant and Inherent Vice --10 pts.
5. Channing Tatum for Foxcatcher -- 9 pts.

NOTE: If a majority of the voters present at the IRAs (some members vote in absentia via ballot) all nominate the same person or film in a category, that nominee is the winner by acclamation. They garnered a majority of support on the first ballot. We then go through our ballots to see the other honorees, but the winner is foreordained. As with every category, once a winner is announced, there is a vote on whether to rescind. (Perhaps a core group loved one performance (enough to score the most points) but a majority hated it. Or perhaps a majority want to see the runner-up win instead. In cases of a first round winner by acclamation, since a majority of the people already picked it, a vote to rescind has never prevailed.

NOTE: Oh the travails of voting on movies. It's hard enough to convince people to see the films you loved. It's even harder to agree on categories: is this performance a lead or a supporting turn? Are there two leads in this film? Are there no leads in that film? Kulesza played the aunt in Ida, a very strong character. Clearly the postulant (the young woman, Ida, raised in a convent who has yet to take her vows) is the lead role. She's in virtually every scene and appears from beginning to end. The aunt is the only other conceivable character who could be considered a leading role. (The only other character of any note is the very handsome saxophone player (Dawid Ogrodnik) but he's unquestionably a supporting role.) One could argue -- as some did -- that the aunt is the other main character. However, most felt it was supporting and there was just one lead character. Marion Bailey played the innkeeper that Mr. Turner met during the film. Bharati Achrekar played "Auntie," the upstairs neighbor of our heroine, whose voice was heard throughout as the two women chatted and Auntie shared advice. However, she was never seen, so this was a vote for an actress who never appeared on screen. Usually, voice work is rewarded for an animated film where at least the character appears, even if the actor themself does not. On the other hand, there was strong support for Renee Russo's career-best work in Nightcrawler. But Ida, the only film among the major winners that was primarily about women, devoted more screen time and more substance to its women than any of the other nominees and thus won here. (Also, the voters might have sensed this was their best shot at giving an award to a film that would rank among the Top Five favorites in Best Picture, Best Director and Best Cinematography yet win none of them.)

NOTE: Voting begins with Costumes, works its way up to Best Picture and then ends with playful "negative" awards for our least favorite movies and performances of the year (especially those that were over-praised). So as we worked out way up the categories, this is where it was clear the night would belong to Nightcrawler. Its screenplay was the runaway favorite. Notably, the second most powerful film -- Foxcatcher -- fell to third here, with the charming screenplay for The Lunchbox taking second place. (The Lunchbox is an epistolary film, about two people who exchange letters placed in a lunchbox passed back and forth throughout the movie.) Since it's dominated by the written word, Screenplay was the best shot at a triumph for this film. Nonetheless, with Foxcatcher and the rest blown away by Dan Gilroy here, it was quickly clear that Nightcrawler was a comer.

NOTE: Like many awards groups, the IRAs considers a person's entire body of work during the calendar year. (A movie must be commercially released in New York City for one week in order to qualify for the IRAs.) If a majority agrees, one or more movies may be ignored when announcing the nominee or winner (perhaps they loved one of their movies and hated two others, or simply hadn't seen them). Naturally, if a person has two really well done films in a year, that can help their chances, hence Robert Elswit's triumph for shooting both the big winner of the evening Nightcrawler as well as Inherent Vice. Realizing Fraser shot both favorite Foxcatcher and The Gambler, a movie much touted by some as worth checking out, was a pleasant surprise for others. Discovering that Pope had shot the classy, critically acclaimed period piece Mr. Turner as well as a forgettable comedy about salsa called Cuban Fury merely amused. This award is strictly for Mr. Turner but it's instructive to see how a great talent like Pope can also work on dreck; hey, you gotta pay the bills. This was followed by a discussion of which if any tech workers like production designers, costumers and the notoriously prolific film composers may be more discerning when it comes to what movies to work on. If a film released in 2014 is not mentioned under an artist's nomination or win, it has been ignored by consensus. As for Birdman, Michael was schooled on the difference between cinematography and the general choices of the director and the film. While some (Michael and others) felt the faux tracking shot used throughout the entire film was in fact a distracting and pointless stunt in a bad film, others contended that whatever one felt about the movie, as a technical challenge lighting and shooting the many long tracking shots that were strung together was an impressive achievement for Lubezki. Of course, everyone hated the moment where we saw a drummer in a hallway playing the film's score at that moment and we name-checked the many times this conceit had been used before and better, such as Top Secret!

NOTE: Like I said, composers are the trollops of the film world: they never say no. They'll quite often create scores for two or three or four movies released in one year. Film scores are hugely important, yet they're often the last element added to a movie, in a rush, at the last minute. Go figure. (No one ever said Hollywood was smart.) Alexandre Desplat also did the score for The Imitation Game which had exactly one vociferous supporter among the IRAs. It proved the most hated film of the year among IRA voters and thus his work is not acknowledged here. James Newton Howard also did the score for Maleficent, a big Hollywood film that the few members who saw enjoyed.

NOTE: The Imitation Game had one ardent supporter at the IRAs (along with an Oscar) to console itself. However, it was widely derided for the film's framing device, in which Alan Turing told his story. Turing was a gay man persecuted by the police despite playing a crucial role in breaking the Nazi code machine Enigma and thus helping win the war. In real life, Turing never used his war-time heroics to defend himself, despite horrendous treatment. It was considered a state secret and Turing kept his pledge to maintain silence. Essentially, he remained loyal to the country that betrayed him. It's a key reason his life has inspired numerous biographies and an acclaimed play. The movie had Turing do the one thing he resolutely refused to do. Thus to many of the IRA voters not only did the film choose a dramatically dull device ("Let me tell you my story") but in doing so it undermined the bravest act of his life, cheapening the very sacrifice Turing made. Some say pish to historical fact; the movie is the movie and you should judge it on its own terms since very, very few are historically accurate. Get your facts from history books not Hollywood, they say. Debate among yourselves.

MECHANICAL ACTRESS

1. Lilla Crawford for Into The Woods -- 25 pts.

2. Sofía Vergara for Chef -- 18 pts.

3. Meryl Streep for Into The Woods -- 14 pts.

4. Kate Winslet for Labor Day -- 6 pts.

5. (tie) Keira Knightley for Begin Again and The Imitation Game-- 9 pts.
Elizabeth Olsen for Godzilla and Very Good Girls -- 9 pts.

1975IRA Film Award WinnersBest Picture: Barry LyndonBest Director: Claude Chabrol for La Rupture and Just Before NightfallBest Actor: Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s NestBest Actress: Ellen Burstyn in Alice Doesn’t Live Here AnymoreBest Supporting Actor: François Perrier in Just Before NightfallBest Supporting Actress: Blythe Danner in Hearts Of The WestBest Screenplay: Tom Stoppard and Thomas Wiseman for The Romantic EnglishwomanBest Cinematography: John Alcott for Barry Lyndon

1976 IRA Film Award WinnersBest Picture: (tie) Lipstick and The Marquise Of OBest Director: Eric Rohmer for The Marquise Of OBest Actor: Sean Connery in Robin And MarianBest Actress: Sissy Spacek in CarrieBest Supporting Actor: Jason Robards in All The President’s MenBest Supporting Actress: Anne Bancroft in LipstickBest Screenplay: Alain Tanner and John Berger for Jonah Who Will Be 25 In The Year 2000Best Cinematography: Nestor Almendros for The Marquise Of O

1984IRA Film Award WinnersBest Picture: (tie) L’Argent and Once Upon A Time In AmericaBest Director: Sergio Leone for Once Upon A Time In AmericaBest Actor: Clint Eastwood in TightropeBest Actress: Helen Mirren in CalBest Supporting Actor: Jean-Luc Godard in First Name: CarmenBest Supporting Actress: Christine Lahti in Swing ShiftBest Screenplay: Franco Arcalli, Leonardo Benvenuti, Piero De Bernardi, Franco Ferrini, Sergio Leone, Enrico Medioli for Once Upon A Time In AmericaBest Cinematography: Robby Müller for Paris Texas and Repo ManBest Music: Ennio Morricone for Once Upon A Time In AmericaBest Production Design: James Singelis for Once Upon A Time In AmericaBest Costume Design: Mic Cheminal for Entre Nous

1993IRA Film Award WinnersBest Picture: Six Degrees Of SeparationBest Director: Nancy Savoca for Household SaintsBest Actor: Dennis Quaid in Flesh And BoneBest Actress: Stockard Channing in Six Degrees Of SeparationBest Supporting Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio in A Boy’s Life and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?Best Supporting Actress: Regina Tourney in Like Water For ChocolateBest Screenplay: Mike Leigh for NakedBest Cinematography: Michael Balhaus for The Age Of InnocenceBest Music: Elmer Bernstein for The Age Of Innocence and The Cemetery ClubBest Production Design: Dante Ferretti for The Age Of InnocenceBest Costume Design: Gabriella Pescucci for The Age Of InnocenceSominex Award: Heaven And EarthDramamine Award: Falling DownMechanical Actor: Richard Gere in SommersbyMechanical Actress: Madonna in Body Of Evidence

1999IRA Film Award WinnersBest Picture: Fight ClubBest Director: (tie) David Fincher for Fight Club and Spike Jonze for Being John MalkovichBest Actor: Terence Stamp in The LimeyBest Actress: (tie) Nicole Kidman in Eyes Wide Shut and Hillary Swank in Boys Don’t CryBest Supporting Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman in Magnolia and The Talented Mr. RipleyBest Supporting Actress: Catherine Keener in Being John MalkovichBest Screenplay: Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor for ElectionBest Cinematography: Robert Richardson for Bringing Out The Dead and Snow Falling On CedarsBest Music: Trey Parker and Marc Shaiman for South Park: Bigger, Longer & UncutBest Production Design: Owen Paterson for The MatrixBest Costume Design: Michael Kaplan for Fight ClubSominex Award: The World Is Not EnoughDramamine Award: The Green MileMechanical Actor: Kevin Spacey in American BeautyMechanical Actress: Annette Bening in American Beauty

2000IRA Film Award WinnersBest Picture: L’ HumaniteBest Director: (tie) Terence Davies for The House Of Mirth and Jim Jarmusch for Ghost Dog: Way Of The SamuraiBest Actor: Forrest Whitaker in Ghost Dog: Way Of The SamuraiBest Actress: (tie) Severine Caneele in L’ Humanite and Michelle Yeoh in Crouching Tiger, Hidden DragonBest Supporting Actor: Jack Black in High Fidelity and Jesus’s SonBest Supporting Actress: Lupe Ontiveros in Chuck And BuckBest Screenplay: Kenneth Lonnergan for You Can Count On MeBest Cinematography: Remi Adefarasin for The House Of MirthBest Music: RZA for Ghost Dog: Way Of The SamuraiBest Production Design: Gideon Ponte for American Psycho and HamletBest Costume Design: Monica Howe for The House Of MirthSominex Award: Mission Impossible 2Dramamine Award: The Replacements (aka The Scabs)Mechanical Actor: Ian Holm in Joe Gould’s SecretMechanical Actress: Charlize Theron in Reindeer Games

2003IRA Film Award WinnersBest Picture: DecasiaBest Director: Bill Morrison for DecasiaBest Actor: Johnny Depp in Pirates Of The CaribbeanBest Actress: Hope Davis in American Splendor and The Secret Lives Of DentistsBest Supporting Actor: Max Pirkis in Master and Commander: The Far Side Of The WorldBest Supporting Actress: Ludivine Sagnier in Swimming PoolBest Screenplay: Shari Springer Bergman and Robert Pulcini for American SplendorBest Cinematography: Peter Suschitzky for SpiderBest Music: Michael Gordon for DecasiaBest Production Design: Andrew Laws for Down With LoveBest Costume Design: Daniel Orlandi for Down With LoveSominex Award:Dramamine Award: In My SkinMechanical Actor: Anthony Hopkins in The Human StainMechanical Actress: Nicole Kidman in The Human Stain

2004IRA Film Award WinnersBest Picture: KinseyBest Director: Bill Condon for KinseyBest Actor: Ethan Hawke in Before SunsetBest Actress: Laura Linney in Kinsey and P.S.Best Supporting Actor: Peter Sarsgaard in KinseyBest Supporting Actress: Kirsten Dunst in Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless MindBest Screenplay: Bill Condon for KinseyBest Cinematography: Christopher Doyle for Hero, Last Life In The Universe and Days Of Being WildBest Music: Alberto Iglesias for Bad EducationBest Production Design: Dante Ferretti for The AviatorBest Costume Design: Emi Wada for Hero and House Of The Flying DaggersSominex Award: The VillageDramamine Award: The Passion Of The ChristMechanical Actor: Cate Blanchett in The AviatorMechanical Actress: Anthony Hopkins in Alexander

2005IRA Film Award WinnersBest Picture: Mysterious SkinBest Director: Gregg Araki for Mysterious SkinBest Actor: Joseph Gordon-Leavitt in Mysterious SkinBest Actress: Maria Bello in A History Of ViolenceBest Supporting Actor: Paddy Constantine in My Summer Of LoveBest Supporting Actress: Catherine Keener in CapoteBest Screenplay: Gregg Araki for Mysterious SkinBest Cinematography: Robert Elswit for Good Night And Good Luck and SyrianaBest Music: Howard Shore for A History Of ViolenceBest Production Design: William Chang Suk Ping for 2046Best Costume Design: William Chang Suk Ping for 2046Sominex Award: SarabandDramamine Award: CrashMechanical Actor: Tom Cruise for War Of The WorldsMechanical Actress: Dakota Fanning for War Of The Worlds

2007IRA Film Award WinnersBest Picture: The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert FordBest Director: Andrew Dominik for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert FordBest Actor: Casey Affleck in The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford and Gone Baby GoneBest Actress: Marina Hands in Lady ChatterleyBest Supporting Actor: Paul Schneider in The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford and Lars And The Real GirlBest Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan in Gone Baby GoneBest Screenplay: Corneliu Porumboiu for 12:08 East Of BucharestBest Cinematography: Roger Deakins for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, In The Valley Of Elah and No Country For Old MenBest Production Design: Patricia Norris for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert FordBest Music: Nick Cave and Warren Ellis for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert FordBest Costume Design: Patricia Norris for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert FordSominex Award: Youth Without YouthDramamine Award: Before The Devil Knows You’re DeadMechanical Actor: John Travolta in HairsprayMechanical Actress: Meryl Streep in Lions For Lambs and RenditionComplete coverage of the 2007 IRAs here.

Best Costumes: (tie) Kasia Walicka-Maimone for Foxcatcher and A Most Violent Year (but not St. Vincent); Jacqueline Durranfor Mr. TurnerSominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): The Monuments Men

Dramamine Award (The Movie That Made Us Sick): The Imitation Game

Mechanical Actress: Lilla Crawford for Into The WoodsMechanical Actor: The Entire Cast ofTheMonuments MenIRA BEST PICTURE WINNERSBarry Lyndon (1975)Lipstick and The Marquise Of O (tie) (1976)Annie Hall (1977)Days Of Heaven (1978)Fedora (1979)The Big Red One (1980)Cutter’s Way (1981)Victor/Victoria (1982)Berlin Alexanderplatz (1983)L’Argent and Once Upon A Time In America (tie) (1984)Prizzi’s Honor (1985)Eyes On The Prize (1986)Housekeeping (1987)Dead Ringers (1988)Story Of Women (1989)GoodFellas (1990)The Man In The Moon (1991)Raise The Red Lantern (1992)Six Degrees Of Separation (1993)Red (1994)Exotica (1995)La Ceremonie (1996)Crash (the David Cronenberg film) and Grosse Pointe Blank (tie) (1997)Gods And Monsters (1998)Fight Club (1999)L’ Humanite (2000)The Werckmeister Harmonies (2001)Far From Heaven and The Son’s Room (tie) (2002)Decasia (2003)Kinsey (2004)Mysterious Skin (2005)L’Enfant (2006)The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (2007)The Edge Of Heaven (2008)Hunger (2009)A Prophet/Un Prophete (2010)The Tree Of Life (2011)Once Upon A Time In Anatolia (2012)Laurence Anyways (2013)Nightcrawler (2014)